2011...Bring it

I have been internally debating [because it's such a huge deal, ya know] whether or not I should do a "top moments of 2010" or "year in review" post to commemorate the New Year.

I decided to go with...No.

Honestly, I just could not come up with enough fabulous and exciting material to thrill you all with. Plus, after reading Naomi's year in review over at Rockstar Diaries, I realized that she will put any other New Years post to great shame.

Instead, I am choosing to reflect on how far I've come since the beginning of this year because 2010 was a giant rollercoaster of emotions and uncertainty.

In January, I was a jobless college graduate living with my parents and feeling like an absolute failure. I'm a planner and a dreamer, and that was NOT how I envisioned by life. I had to stand by as my best friends all got jobs and Aaron was being his usual impressive self. I was low as low can be.

At the end of the month I got a job in College Station basically being a glorified secretary. Once again, not how I planned things for myself, but it was a job! Being in a college town, with a college boyfriend, but not being a college student myself was...interesting. I think it caused me to revert back to age 21. This time was probably hardest on my relationship with the ginger.

Fast forward to October, when I finally got a job in Houston that had "marketing" in the title.

So that's where I am now. Houstonite. Apartment dweller. Employee of a ridiculously large company. Payer of all bills. Cat mother. Girlfriend.

I'm still a planner and a dreamer. This can be both a good and a bad thing. The planner in me says that I'm almost on track. I'm almost there. Do I absolutely love my job? No. Is it a good job? Yes. It can lead to other possibilities, so I am thankful for this.

The dreamer in me is confused. She doesn't understand why she's here. In this city. In this job. Why isn't she having that amazing adventure she always planned on? Always counted on. Some time ago, the always lovely and eloquent Meg [Meg, I am almost certain it was you but apologies if I'm randomly crediting this to you when it was not!] had a quote on her blog that upon reading, felt like I had been hit over my head with a ton of bricks:

sometimes i can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives i'm not living

-jonathan safran foer

 

That says it all. Does anyone else ever feel like that? Like you're just not QUITE where you're supposed to be, and you yearn for all the things you COULD be doing?

 

 

Sorry y'all, I've done it again and gone all emotastic. New Years posts are supposed to be encouraging and spunky and fun! I apologize for whatever the hell mine turned into.

 

REGARDLESS. I have fine expectations for 2011.

Getting to know Houston better. Making my apartment a home. Learning to enjoy my job. Or perhaps getting a completely different job [one never knows]. Spending more time with my friends. Finally learning how to use my camera. A BOYFRIEND WHO WILL FINALLY GRADUATE. A trip to Europe with said boyfriend. My maiden voyage to Las Vegas with friends who will make the trip unforgettable. The impending marriage of one of my besties [Ronnie...I'm counting on 11/11/11 :)]

 

Doing FABULOUS things.

 

So here's to 2011, my friends!

 

I sincerely hope it is one of the best for all of us.

Day 21

Day 21: A picture of something you wish you could forget.

Cringe-worthy moments.

Refer back to the olden days of my blog and this post.

Day 20

Day 20: A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

Santorini, Greece
Photo

Honeymoon? I think yes.



Day 19

Day 19: A picture of a habit you wish you didn't have



Yuck yuck, I know. I'm a cuticle picker. I do it out of boredom, nervousness, excitement. It's a habit for every emotion!

Anyone want to hypnotize me so I'll stop??

Adios

After a week of being home, I've almost forgotten that I don't live here anymore. One can get quite use to the delicious sandwiches of rib roast and brie, homemade Christmas treats, playful animals all around, and sweet parents and friends. But alas, I must return to real life in Houston tomorrow. This means a return to the daily grind at the office [I've been working from home this week, what what], BUT it also means New Years celebrations and my birthday! On Monday I will ring in 24 years of existence. Nearly a quarter of a century. I hope to rejoice in it with lots of food and cupcakes [hint hint].

A few shots from the past couple of days:

The girls got together again one last time for a night of wine and juicy story telling. We've come a long way from high school!

This will be my first birthday ever to not be at home, so my parents and I did an early celebration together at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants here.

In true Mexican restaurant fashion, a large sombrero was placed on my head while I was sung to. I know you're just dying to see pictures of this, but there are none. Thank goodness.

You know, while I was in my dark angry days of unemployment, I couldn't WAIT to get out of this house. Everything annoyed me and I was chomping at the bit to have my independence. Now that I have that sweet freedom, I appreciate home SO much more. Even more than when I was off to college; I think because back then, I could come home whenever I wanted to and there were built in ENORMOUS breaks every semester. So now when I come home, I try to treasure every moment I have here, whether it be just hanging out playing game after game of cards or Trivial Pursuit with my mom, or being silly with treasured old friends. I'm an adult with my own life, and though this will always be home in my heart, it will never be HOME again in the sense of a place where you live permanently. Thinking about it always gets me kind of melancholy :/

WELL. Now that I have been on a prolonged emo streak, I must leave you with something joyous and delightful.
Christmas may be over [and I apologize for not posting this earlier for all you fellow fans], but it's never too late for some Keyboard Cat!!

Day 18

Day 18: A picture of your favorite place

What's not to like?

Mingle Monday

***So apparently I did this wrong and I wasn't necessarily supposed to BLOG about the question, just answer it in the comments section of Meg's blog. Oops. I'm a newb, please excuse me!***

I'm giving this "Mingle Monday" a whirl today. It seems to be a great way to discover new lovely blogs and get inspiration for posts.

Plus, I'm working from home this week, so why not?!

Want to join? Head on over to Life of Meg!

Today's Mingle Monday question: What was your favorite Christmas gift this year?

Well, seeing as how my parents gave me a fairly hefty sum for apartment start up costs in October, I didn't really ask for anything this year. But my lovely mom was kind enough to get me some magazine subscriptions I'd been wanting. I'm a magazine enthusiast, but have let my subscriptions go by the wayside due to lack of moneys. I shall now be filling my tiny mailbox with Vogue, National Geographic Traveler, Bon Apetit, and House Beautiful.

Basically, I'll be filling my head with beautiful images that will have me itching to travel and get away from real life.

What can I say, I'm a dreamer!

Day 17

Day 17: A picture of your biggest insecurity



I too often wish that I looked like this.

Come on, I'm an average girl, so it's completely natural to wish I had a bombshell bod.

However, I'm completely aware that this will most likely NEVER happen, so I'm content just to be healthy.

Day 16

Day 16: A picture of someone you've been friends with the longest and still feel connected to.

This is basically a repeat question from Day 2, so all of you get to see the lovely Maegan again!

HO HO HO

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had an absolutely beautiful day filled with family, too much food, and good cheer.

Our usually large, real tree was replaced by this teeny tiny cute one this year due to home remodeling. Hey, it still does the job!

Bogie with his traditional Christmas bow.

Boris the beagle got a bow as well.

Maybe I've been eating stuff like this since I got home on Wednesday.

Tasty Moscato for the Christmas lunch.

Parentals on our evening walk to combat fattiness.

Chester felt the Christmas joy today.

The day is coming to a close, so here's looking forward to a great last few days of 2010!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

My small family is celebrating in our usual way...by going out to eat [Mexican, of course] and coming home to wine and finger foods.

Watch out for Santa tonight!

Day 15

Day 15: A picture of something you want to do before you die

Live here:

Or here:



Photoshoots and cookies on a merry Christmas Eve Eve

I love being home, especially around Christmas. And while we may not have a Christmas tree this year [thanks, home remodeling], it's nice just to be here with my parents and being able to catch up with old friends that I don't see nearly enough.

Plus, Chester is enjoying having lots of space to play and other kitties to socialize with.

Today I met up with some of my best friends, Ronnie, Swampy, and Haritha, for our traditional Christmas gathering. We usually have go-to restaurants for this occasion, but this year we switched it up and went to a great place called the Guenther House. It's an old mansion in a historic area of San Antonio that has been turned into a little restaurant downstairs. We had a great time catching up and staging photoshoots everywhere we went.

Then we came back to my house for sugar cookie baking. Domestic? Yes we are. But maybe we also made some hurricanes to accompany us.

Oh, so I also tried Zumba today. Anyone else done that before? It's an excellent work out!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!

Wishes for a future house

This tub.

Look at it! How luxurious. That would be glorious for a bubble bath.

I can only dream of having a house one day that is cool enough to end up on Design Spunge.

Day 14

Day 14: A picture of your favorite pasttime

I love to travel. Road trips, 12 hour plane rides, you name it.

My mom and I did a lot of international traveling together when I was growing up, and they are some of my fondest memories.

You have no idea how much I'd love to just drop everything and travel the world for a while.

Anyone want to pay me to do that?

Ginger boyfriend, want to come?

It's that time of the year again...

No, not Christmastime.

ENGAGEMENT SEASON.

One part joyous, one part inexplicably irritating.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE weddings. And I love love. And I love when people find love and live happily ever after.

But thanks to the magic that is Facebook, I wake up every morning to find that AT LEAST 3 new people have become affianced.

Now, I'm completely aware that I sound like some desperate girl who is just jealous and itching for her man to propose. Of course, a litle part of me thinks it would be lovely to be engaged. What girl wouldn't want a beautiful ring that comes with a promise of marrying your best friend? But I know I'm not in the right place for that yet, and ultimately I'd like to be a little older/financially stable when I get married. We've had these discussions and agreee on the fundamentals, so I know that it will happen when it happens.

So why do I get so riled up when I am bombarded with engagements on my newsfeed?

BECAUSE I'M A FEMALE. Because egagements tug at my hormones and my heart and make me all wonky for no reason. Because my subconscious likes to play mean tricks on me. Because I am overly emotional sometimes. Because I secretly do wish it was me??

Oh hell.

Disclaimer: I feel like feminism just took a tiny blow and I might have made it sound like all women are dying to get married. Not the case. Girl power!

Day 13

Day 13: A picture of your favorite band or artist

Always classic, always perfect.



Shout out to Paul McCartney:

Please come be my British grandpa that I never had and sing to me every day. Thank you.

Gingerbread goodness

Last night we did some gingerbread cookie decorating.

I am the first to admit that I possess ZERO artsy skills, but that did not stop me from having a go at these little gingerbready treats.

We called this one "Tranny Train Wreck"

Inspired by "Black Swan," I created this one. I know, it's magnificent.

This is only a tiny fraction of the gingerbread cookies. We were quite proud.

Also in [gingerbread] attendance were Katy Perry, Uncle Sam/George Washington, a Star Trek inspired fellow who was also a GINGER gingerbread man, and a leper. Yes, a leper.

I never said we weren't odd.

Christmas in 4 days!

Day 12

Day 12:  A picture of something you love



Disregard the weird meaty brain looking stuff on the right. I have no idea what it is, but I had to use this picture because it has Brie and Havarti in it.

As I went the serious route yesterday, I'll go the silly route today.

But seriously, I love cheese [minus Bleu cheese. Sick out.].

Christmas countdown: 5 days

Not that it actually feels like Christmas, what with 75 degree weather and all.

Is it too much to ask to have cold weather so that I can prance around in a cute hat, scarf, peacoat, and boots, looking all winter bunny-esque??

Maybe something of this variety. Though I would avoid the awkward posing.

While much of the population [i.e. teachers and those with vacation time saved up] is already celebrating the holidays by NOT being a member of the workforce, here I sit in my cubicle, where it is colder than the outside temperature. Curses! All I have to do is make it to Wednesday, then I'm off to San Antonio for a week of family time and catching up with friends. And you'd better believe that I am working from home the week after Christmas. Take that, corporate America!!

This past weekend consisted of:
1. Saying farewell to the ginger boyfriend, who went home for the holidays and will then be moving back to College Station. Why must engineers take an eternity to graduate? Also, I brought this upon myself for being a total cougar.
2. Apartment cleaning/bonding with Chester. I'm sure you want to hear more exciting details on this, but I must move on.
3. Braving an overly crowded mall. It was with good friends though, which automatically makes the experienc more worthwhile. There was also a large chocolate chip cookie involved to appease me.
4. A no-boys allowed, ladies night out. Quite a success.
5. Seeing the Black Swan. AWESOME. You have to be into psychological thrillers though. And be comfortable with some...interesting...moments. If not, I suggest just closing your eyes. Natalie Portman can do no wrong.

Hope everyone had a marvelous weekend and has a lovely Christmast week! For those of you who are also working this week, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

Day 11

Day 11: A picture of something you hate

Discrimination/Ignorance.

There wasn't really one nice little picture to sum that up.

I thought about doing something easy like "rompers" or "bleu cheese," but 1) I have talked about my disdain for rompers enough on here and 2) I wanted to go in a more serious direction because this is something I truly do hate and that makes me so very sad.

Day 9

Day 9: A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

Caroline was there for me during a really terrible break up, and I will never forget how selfless she was and how she took care of me when I was a complete mess.  When I found myself unemployed after college she was there once again with constant support [even when I didn't want it or got tired of hearing it].

Meet Chester

For as much as I obsess over cats (i.e. Keyboard Cat) on here, I do not showcase nearly enough pictures of my own feline friend, Chester.

He loves the Christmas tree, but has thankfully only knocked it over twice.



Passed out by the tree. Probably tired from a day of running around the apartment and meowing constantly.



Looking chubby and inquisitive in my closet.



Happy Friday, everyone!

Can you believe Christmas Eve is in just ONE WEEK??

Day 8

Day 8: A picture that makes you laugh

Oh boy, that's a REALLY tough one. There are so many that make me giggle.



I'll go with this one because:

1. That is a male dancer at a gay club we went to on my 22nd birthday.

2. I am obviously not ok with his invasion of my personal area.

3. It shows how awkward I am.

I hope major designers are battling to design MY wedding dress one day

I am wildly fascinated by Kate Middleton. Maybe it has something to do with the whole future princess/Queen of England thing.

My relationship with her has been tumultuous, as I at first regarded her with great disdain for stealing my future husband and ruining my dreams of becoming a princess.

Then, I grew fond of her and William and was a huge champion of their relationship. I love that she is a commoner (albeit a fabulously rich one). Take that, blue blooded hussies!

Anyway, in light of their impending nuptials, the world's major designers are all vying for the opportunity to design her wedding dress. Lucky much?

Here are my faves:



Monique Lhuillier



Valentino


This is probably my absolute favorite. Just look at it!! I want to snatch it out of the screen.



Alberta Feretti

 


Vera Wang

 So where's my wedding invitation, Kate?? If I can't actually have one of these dresses, I should at least be able to gawk at it in person. Just sayin'.

Day 7

Day 7: A picture that shows your true self



Yes, I am in a washing machine at a Parisian laundromat.



I am goofy as all get out. Sure, I might be but a few weeks from 24, I might love to read and travel, I might appreciate fine foods and stimulating conversation, but at the end of the day this is me. If I have laughed so hard that it hurts, then I consider that a great day.